Receptors of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family of neurotrophic factors signal cell survival through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway in spinal cord motoneurons.

The members of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family of neurotrophic factors (GDNF, neurturin, persephin, and artemin) are able to promote in vivo and in vitro survival of different neuronal populations, including spinal cord motoneurons. These factors signal via multicomponent receptors that consist of the Ret receptor tyrosine kinase plus a member of the GDNF family receptor alpha (GRFalpha) family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked coreceptors. Activation of the receptor induces Ret phosphorylation that leads the survival-promoting effects. Ret phosphorylation causes the activation of several intracellular pathways, but the biological effects caused by the activation of each of these pathways are still unknown. In the present work, we describe the ability of the GDNF family members to promote chicken motoneuron survival in culture. We show the presence of Ret and GFRalpha-1, GFRalpha-2, and GFRalpha-4 in chicken motoneurons using in situ hybridization and reverse transcription-PCR techniques. By Western blot analysis and kinase assays, we demonstrate the ability of these factors to induce the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI 3-kinase) and the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK)-mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways activation. To characterize the involvement of these pathways in the survival effect, we used the PI 3-kinase inhibitor LY 294002 and the MAP kinase and ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD 98059. We demonstrate that LY 294002, but not PD 98059, prevents GDNF-, neurturin-, and persephin-induced motoneuron survival, suggesting that PI 3-kinase intracellular pathway is responsible in mediating the neurotrophic effect.